The invention of this application relates particularly to kits, tools, and methods of use thereof. The kit includes at least one dental post and a tool used to hold dental post to carry it to the prepared tooth stub so that it can be mount on the prepared tooth stub to enable a dental restoration to be secured to the post thereafter.
It is well known in the field of dentistry to build up a dental restoration onto a tooth stub for replacement of missing dentition. The diseased or broken tooth is prepared leaving a tooth stub that provides a suitable support on which the restoration will be placed. After the root canal is cleaned and filled with the appropriate filling material it is partially reamed out to a proper size and depth forming a bore. A dental post is then selected and inserted into the prepared bore so that its shank substantially fills the bore while its head portion extends upwardly from the surface of the tooth stub. The post is retained within the bore using a suitable dental cement. Next, using a syringe or other dispensing means, a flowable dental core material is injected over the post head. The core material is formed and allowed to cure and harden on the post head to form a post-core buildup. Then, using a drill equipped with a high speed diamond burr, the post-core buildup is shaped to be fitted under a dental restoration, e.g., a porcelain or gold crown. Next, an impression is taken of the shaped post-core buildup which is used to fabricate the dental restoration. Finally, the dental restoration is fitted over the post-core buildup and cemented in place.
While numerous types of dental posts which are commercially available have provided improvements with respect to retention to and integration with core material, still further improvements were desirable. In my aforementioned patent application there is disclosed and claimed a dental post which provides significant advantages over the prior art to prevent accidental breaking off of the dental restoration after setting onto the dental post. The dental post of that application is arranged for securely retaining a dental restoration on a prepared tooth stub having a top surface and a bore extending therein and basically comprises an enlarged head and a shank. The shank is an elongated rod-like member having a first longitudinal axis, with the outside diameter of the shank measured along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and being a predetermined dimension. The shank is arranged to be fixedly secured within the bore so that the enlarged head extends beyond the top surface of the prepared tooth stub. The enlarged head has an outside diameter measured along a third axis parallel to the second axis and is a predetermined dimension. The enlarged head has plural through passageways, e.g., a coronal passageway, and a transverse passageway that communicate with one another.
The plural through passageways are arranged for receipt of a setable securement medium which flows therein and about the surface of the head to secure the dental restoration to the post.
A dental pliers is also disclosed in the application for the safe handling and insertion of the dental post into the prepared tooth. While the dental pliers of that application is suitable for its intended purposes, it never the less leaves something to be desired from the standpoints of simplicity of construction and ease of use, e.g., ease of transporting the dental post to the prepared tooth stub while releasably supporting the post so that its shank can be readily inserted within the bore in the stub to secure the dental post in place, and for simple manipulation to release the tool from the post. A need thus exists for tool to better achieve those ends.